I returned from a retreat in Pensacola a few days before Christmas and opened my e-mail to find the gift of a poem sent by our Sister Margaret Byrne. The poem is “Messenger,”* by Mary Oliver. “My work,” she begins, “is loving the world”: Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me [...]
Category Archive for 'Cross'
The Shadow of the Cross – The Shadow of Thy Wings
Posted in Cross on Apr 14th, 2006
Shade is treasured in the sunshine state. When Sister Elizabeth, a New Yorker, moved to Gainesville, she was worried about the branches of large trees hanging over our roof. “Trees are hanging over almost everyone’s roof,” I pointed out, “and even over businesses. That’s how buildings in north Florida are kept cool in the summer.” [...]
Act of Oblation
Posted in Cenacle, Cross, Forgiveness, Love, Mary on Mar 26th, 2005
ACT OF OBLATION Lord Jesus, I unite myself to your perpetual, unceasing, universal sacrifice. I offer myself to you every day of my life and every moment of every day, according to your most holy and adorable will. You have been the victim of my salvation, I wish to be the victim of your love. [...]
I thought that I had accepted the realities of life. I was startled, therefore, in church a few Sundays ago, to find myself engulfed with anger because of the human condition. To be precise, I was sad because of the illness of a loved one, and angry because we all suffer and age and die. [...]
The Foolishness of the Cross
Posted in Cross on Feb 20th, 2005
I had a doctor once — a very good doctor, qualified to practice both western and eastern medicine — who, knowing I was a Catholic sister, commented to me one day that she wished Christians would focus less on the cross and adopt a more life-giving outlook. I was so taken aback that I didn’t [...]